PITTSBURGH — Rookie Hunter Greene carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning but still ended up being on the wrong end of a 1-0 Reds loss to the Pirates on Sunday.
While throwing 118 pitches — the most in the Majors this season — Greene worked 7 1/3 innings with five walks and nine strikeouts. With one out in the eighth inning, the 22-year-old issued back-to-back walks as he showed signs of fatigue. Reliever Art Warren took over and after walking his first batter, Ben Gamel, induced what should have been an inning-ending double play.
On Ke’Bryan Hayes’ ground ball to second base, Alejo Lopez bobbled the ball in his glove and could only notch one out on the play as Rodolfo Castro scored the game’s lone run.
Greene was the first Reds rookie to take a no-hitter through seven innings since Travis Wood carried a perfect game into the ninth before giving up a hit at Philadelphia on July 10, 2010. Cincinnati went on to lose in 11 innings, 1-0, during that game.
Per the Elias Sports Bureau, a no-hitter needs to be at least nine innings in order to be official.